Rick Westerhof
In the Great Lakes Basin, barriers fragment riverine habitat and impede movement of fishes and other aquatic organisms within riverine networks, and between the Great Lakes and tributaries, reducing genetic diversity of aquatic species and impeding energy transport, nutrient flow and recycling. Conversely, some barriers provide system benefits by: controlling sea lamprey and other detrimental invasive species; preventing upstream spread of contaminants, and decreasing pathogen spread. There is increasing interest from federal, tribal, provincial, state, and municipal governments, non-government organizations, and private individuals to remove or bypass barriers including dams and road stream crossings to reconnect aquatic habitats regulated and managed by government. Agencies are reviewing an increasing number of proposals to remove or modify barriers and funders have expressed difficulty in deciding which projects to fund. A suite of decision support tools intended to facilitate prioritization of connectivity restoration projects have been developed; pairing them with agreed-upon restoration priorities to advance coordination, focus, and awareness of larger-scale impacts is vital to their relevancy. The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Connectivity Collaborative brings together agencies and organizations to establish agreed-upon connectivity targets and identify and address limiting factors to regional connectivity decision making in the Great Lakes Basin.